School Governors Policies

[sloughman]

Hello folks,

 

I keep getting requests to put more and more policies on the school website, currently divided into two areas, one page with all the main policies (about 50 of them) and one more for internal type issues eg staff discipline etc (some 30 odd policies) under the Governors page, at present this page is tucked away but not password protected/sign on. The governors are planning on putting more docs in this area. I was wondering firstly do other schools have this many policies on their website ie 80+ and do you have a special password protected / sign on page for governors policies/documentation ?

 

Any info gratefully received

[elsiegee40]

All school policies are in the public domain so there is no need to worry about them being on the website. My governor school has them all there, my employing school only has the statutory ones.

 

There is a very small list of stautory policies that MUST appear on the website. You can find it here: Statutory policies for schools - Schools

 

Speaking from experience as both a governor of a state school and a school employee, policies seem to breed and from time to time a cull is a good idea. The governors will love it if SLT were minded to go through them and remove a few as every single one needs regular review and approval by the Governing Body!

 

Policies are the responsibility of the school, the GB only adopts those put forward by the school. Personally, I think all of them should be available on the website. It makes handling complaints and appeals much easier.

Edited January 15, 2014 by elsiegee40

[plexer]

We use Governorhub for sharing of info minutes etc...

 

Ben

[3s-gtech]

We use Joomla, the non-statutory policies which the governors need to see to approve are within the password protected section of the site (along with any governor specific docs).

[elsiegee40]

At my employing school, where we have Google Apps for education, we are looking at putting all the adopted policies into a public Google Drive folder that we link to from the website. It will save messing about uploading things on a regular basis. It also means it becomes the problem of the staff maintaining the policies to make sure it's updated and not the problem of the IT technician!

[elsiegee40]

Have you thought of becoming a Staff Governor when the post next comes up for election? (every 4 years) Maybe you could have some influence, the experience I have gained from being a governor is amazing and looks brilliant on my cv ... in fact my current, more managerial, role is based on that experience

 

For those not aware a Staff Governor is a representative OF staff on the Governing Body, not a representative FOR staff; it is not like being a Trades Union Rep.

 

The same applies to Parent Governors. They are elected for a 4 year term as a representative OF parents, not a representative FOR parents.

 

Governors are not paid; they are all volunteers.

Edited January 15, 2014 by elsiegee40

[witch]

Neither of my employer schools, nor my governor school, have all their policies on the website, just the statutory ones with a note stating that all policies are available from the school office. Having said that, if the governors do need to see the staff discipline type policies, I think it doesn't hurt to put them in a password protected area. Also this is very useful to have anyway for governors to exchange information

[john]

I can vouch for the value of being a governor I was a Staff one at my last job and found it very rewarding and an interesting experience and was involved in a range of things with them including a major refurbishment of the buildings, merger of two other local schools into ours, and the appointment of a new head.

[Garacesh]

representative OF parents, not a representative FOR

 

Hijack time! Aren't they the same thing?

I'm going to assume not, since you took the time to clarify one, not the other, but they seem like the same thing..? What's the difference?

[witch]

Not quite:

"of" is used to indicate relation

"for" is used to indicate attempting to obtain, gain, or acquire

[elsiegee40]

If you are a representative of a body of people, you are a person who happens to be... a member of staff... a parent of a current pupil... working for the LA... working in the community (aka Staff Governor, Parent Governor, LA Governor, Community Governor) Your job is to govern the school, challenging its leadership team to ensure the students make best progress and that public money is spent effectively.

 

You are not there to bring staff/parent gripes to the Governing Body (GB). There are procedures and policies which define how those must be made which will bring them to the GB, but in a regulated fashion. The GB should be seeking the views of the school's stakeholders, but not by governors just going out and asking opinion. You are not a representative FOR a group of people in the way that a lobbyist may be for example.

 

Becoming a governor is a great way of finding out what is going on in a school and having influence, but governors should not be bringing personal agendas to meetings. Hopefully, most don't.

 

As a Parent Governor, I am always careful to make sure that school staff understand when I am being a parent and when I am being a governor. (Staff usually switch calling me Mrs G........ instead of using my forename which helps them to separate my different identities.) I am now Chair of the GB; my son commented that he hadn't realised that I was going to be the most important person in the school (which I suppose I am because the Head is answerable to me, but I am really first among equals on the GB and not able to act alone) He reckons that staff are more careful about what they say to him now though

Edited January 16, 2014 by elsiegee40

[Garacesh]

Ah, makes sense now Thanks.

[witch]

What she said^

Sorry my response was a bit basic - I got the "Witch, you must come and sort this out NOW" call....

[visioN]

my son commented that he hadn't realised that I was going to be the most important person in the school (which I suppose I am

 

lol !

[elsiegee40]

Important note... you only get to be a Chair/Vice Chair if you are not a Staff Governor. Those employed by the school, including the Headteacher, cannot Chair or Vice Chair committees or the GB

[sloughman]

Blimey, stirred up quite a response, slightly deviated from my original thread but interesting nonetheless,.....but ironically nobody answered my original question as to how many policies they have on their website.

[elsiegee40]

Blimey, stirred up quite a response, slightly deviated from my original thread but interesting nonetheless,.....but ironically nobody answered my original question as to how many policies they have on their website.

Governor School 70 (The school's decision - not the Governors!)

Other school in Governor School's Trust 12

Employing School 15

[witch]

There are 10 on the websites of both schools - one is a middle-deemed-secondary, the other a Junior

 

My governor school has only admissions or complaints policies up!

Edited January 16, 2014 by witch

[elsiegee40]

There are 10 on the websites of both schools - one is a middle-deemed-secondary, the other a Junior

 

My governor school has only admissions or complaints policies up!

Your governor school needs to buck its ideas up! They need to have the statutory policies on their website @witch Statutory policies for schools - Schools

[localzuk]

I can't find anywhere that states that schools have to have all statutory policies on their site. Just that they must have such policies. What I've found says that academies have to have the following on their site: details of the school’s policies on behaviour, charging and SEN and disability provision, details or links to the school’s admission arrangements, including its selection and oversubscription criteria, published admission number and the school’s process for applications through the local authority. Which is about 5 policies total.

 

 

[witch]

@elsiegee40 Yes, they do need to but they just havent got round to it - being "Requires Improvement" currently is rather at the forefront of everyone's minds in terms of Teaching and Learning and Data Analysis!

Legally they just have to hold the policies and those policies be available to anyone who wants them.

[elsiegee40]

From the DfE FAQs about changes to school information regulations - Schools

 

What are the minimum ‘key’ information areas to publish online and what is meant by ‘details’?

This will include for all schools:

• details of the school’s pupil premium allocation and plans to spend it in the current year; and, for the previous year, a statement of how the money was spent and the impact that it had on educational attainment of those pupils at the school in respect of whom grant funding was allocated;
  
• details of the school’s curriculum, content and approach, by academic year and by subject (including details of GCSE options and other qualifications offered at Key Stage 4 (for secondary schools), and approach to phonic and reading schemes (for primary schools));
  
• where applicable, details or links to the school’s admission arrangements, including its selection and oversubscription criteria, published admission number and the school’s process for applications through the local authority ;
  
• details of the school’s policies on behaviour, charging and SEN and disability provision;
  
• links to the school’s Ofsted reports and DfE School Performance Tables and details of the school’s latest Key Stage 2 and/or Key Stage 4 attainment and progress measures as presented in the School Performance Tables;
  
• a statement of the school’s ethos and values.
  

All schools will need to ensure that they continue to comply with any separate requirements that apply in respect of developing specific policies and communicating them.

While the P word is not used, many of these things are policies!

 

More useful information on school website content here http://www.clerktogovernors.co.uk/your-school-website/

Edited January 16, 2014 by elsiegee40

[localzuk]

Yeah, that's what I just quoted. There are 22 statutory policies for academies, but that list has 5 which have to be on the website.

[elsiegee40]

Yeah, that's what I just quoted. There are 22 statutory policies for academies, but that list has 5 which have to be on the website.

 

And witch's school has 2. Ofsted regard it as good practice to have all statutory policies available.

[witch]

Good practice, yes, and I agree they should do it, but it isn't a legal requirement. I don't think a school has to have a website does it?

 

*oohhh spooky - I've just looked again and there is a new link to ...the policies!

Spoke to the NM there and he put them up this morning.

I feel quite odd, now

Edited January 16, 2014 by witch